


The Boy in the Box

by ColoredGayngels



Series: the price we pay [6]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Things Happen Bingo, Blackwatch Era, Blindfolds, Deadlock Jesse McCree, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Hallucinations, Handcuffs, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares, Past Child Abuse, Sensory Deprivation, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2020-01-23 01:46:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18539788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColoredGayngels/pseuds/ColoredGayngels
Summary: Jesse throws his body against what he hopes is the steel door, screaming out Ashe’s name for the hundredth time. He knows it’s no use, but he doesn’t know how long he’s been in here, let alone how long he will be.





	The Boy in the Box

**Author's Note:**

> Bingo Square: Sensory Deprivation  
> Anonymous asked: Interested in how you would do sensory deprivation.
> 
> i'm very sorry that i keep doing jesse dirty like this.

Jesse throws his body against what he hopes is the steel door, screaming out Ashe’s name for the hundredth time. He knows it’s no use, but he doesn’t know how long he’s been in here, let alone how long he will be. He screams again, shaking his head to try and loosen the blindfold or earplugs they’d trapped him in. He pulls hard at the cuffs keeping his arms behind him but only succeeds at irritating the cuts that are already there.

He hates this. Hates the box, hates that he can see his mother in the corner beckoning to him despite the blindfold, hates that he can hear whispers around him despite the ear plugs, hates that all he has is the steel room around him and the thoughts in his head. Jesse squeezes his eyes shut (Does he? Were they open to begin with? Are they open now?). He shakes his head again, he thinks, he isn’t sure. He tries to throw himself against the door again, it can’t have moved since last time, can it?

He misses the door (Was there a door to begin with? Will he ever get out?) and ends up throwing himself to the ground instead. He can’t feel anything, can’t feel his arms or his legs or the cuts on his wrists (Did his wrists get cut up? Does he have wrists?). He thinks he’s crying, but can’t feel the tears or see anything besides his mother still in the corner, stomach bloody and face pale.

He wants to go to her, wants to curl up in her arms and let her tell him that it’s over, that everything will be okay. He tries to scream again, he thinks he tries, doesn’t know anymore, doesn’t care, there’s too much nothing and he wants it to  _ stop, please, stop! _

His mother calls out to him. Her voice is just as soft and sweet as when he was young, a beautiful sound through the whispers that have only gotten louder as time has gone on. “Come back to me, Jesse. Come on, Jess, come back to me, come back, please, Jes-”

~~~

“-se! Come on, Jess, wake up.”

Jesse flies upright in… bed? He’s in bed. He’s not in New Mexico, he’s not in the box, he’s not trapped in his own head.

There are hands on his shoulders, a hand on his face, a hand in his hair, pulling him close, tucking his face into something solid, warm. “You’re awake now, it’s okay, you’re okay, Jesse, I’m here.” Gabriel’s voice is gentle in his ear, and Jesse realizes that he’s shaking and sobbing. 

He grabs at Gabriel’s shirt, fingers so tight in the material he’s afraid it might tear, but that doesn’t matter. All that matters is Gabriel’s chest, breath even and heart steady against Jesse’s cheek. 

They stay like that for a while, until Jesse stops crying. Gabriel settles them so Jesse’s in his lap, Gabe leaning against the headboard with the blankets wrapped around them. The bedside lamp is on, so Jesse makes sure everything is in order. He’s in bed with Gabriel, in Gabriel’s room. The clock on the microwave reads 3:42 AM. He reaches a shaking hand up to Gabriel’s face, feeling along his beard for the thick scar on his left cheek. It’s there, rough under his fingers, which means Jesse is, in fact, 19, not 15, not in danger.

“You wanna talk about it,  _ mijo _ ?” 

Jesse shakes his head, not trusting himself to speak right now. He snuggles in closer to Gabe, tucking his nose in the crook of Gabe’s neck. He wraps his arms around Gabe’s torso, making sure they’re in as much contact as possible, and he drifts back to sleep.

~~~

The earplugs are out, and there’s so much noise, too much noise, and the cuffs are off and his blindfold is removed. When Jesse blinks a few times in an effort to adjust to the light, his vision focuses on one figure.

“Ashe!” he cries out, stumbling towards her. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I won’t do it again, promise, I won’t, I’ll do better, don’t put me back in there!”

Ashe catches him and he holds her tight, wants to make sure she’s real. “You’re fine, Jesse. You just gotta make sure you don’t break no more rules, okay?”

Jesse nods over her shoulder. He still isn’t sure what he did, but he swears he’ll never do whatever it is again. Ashe pries him off of her, holding him at shoulder length. 

“No more touchin’. Go on, back to work, Mcree.”

Jesse nods and walks away, still shaking, still desperate for more touch. He needs more than a one-sided hug to sort out his everything, but he’s got a job to do.

~~~

Jesse’s twitching in his sleep, but since he’s not full on shaking and screaming like earlier, Gabe isn’t too worried. He can’t help but wonder what fresh hell Jesse was dreaming of, what the boy went through that he hasn’t told Gabe about. Jesse’s arms tighten around his middle and the boy starts whimpering again. Gabe considers waking him but decides against it, instead wrapping his own arms tighter around Jesse. He stops squirming, going slack in Gabe’s arms again with a contented sound, and if Gabe doesn’t get much sleep the rest of the night keeping watch over his boy, well, that’s none of Jesse’s business.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on:  
> [tumblr](https://spriitepepsii.tumblr.com)  
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/spriitepepsii)


End file.
